Tank-wall grenade mounting



y 1949- D. L. BRACK 2,476,479

TANK-WALL GRENADE MOUNTING Filed April 16, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l DefinisL BrucK 51m; new A July 19, 1949. D. 1.. BRACK 2,475,479

TANK-WALL GRENADE MOUNTING Filed April 16, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2f-Ilnnia L. Eur-ask Patented July 19, 1949 ES'i lIAT -S :ZI Z9 EfANK-WAQ 'Q APEMQE NT ENQ 'l fil k s LL-131301, For rth assie n rio but,

d sta meripaa scrrssaua et sf fisq aim -This invention-relatestoiznprovements in combe depressed sufficiently to'ebear upon targets ofthis nature. Eurthermoraethenecessity-=for-deltermining a-.the precise..loea.tion mof unmounted eenemy. nersonnelahout .the :tank. oftenpleadsto i ll=advised. uncovering ef.-.a .guarded portion such tankthereb-yexpesingithe.crewtdenemy fire.

nature,.-.turrets have beensinstalled in tanks to turret about 9 secondsto turn 180 from a dead stop, time enough for a successful attack to becompleted even supposing that the turret machine gun could be brought tobear on the attacker at all. Moreover, a tank is helpless againstsimultaneous attack from opposite directions at short range. Obviouslysome method of discouraging or beating down such attacks is of greatnecessity.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to devise a method toprevent or subdue close-in attacks against an armored vehicle withoutrequiring exposure of the crew to enemy fire.

It is a particular object of this invention to provide means forrotating an armed grenade from the interior of a tank to the exteriorthereof where such grenade is detonated in a con- Ventional manner.

The specific nature of the invention as well as other objects andadvantages thereof will clearly appear from a description of a preferredembodiment as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the ball of the invention with a grenademounted therein;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the ball mounted in the armor plate of a combatvehicle;

Fig. 3 is a top view of the ball mounted in the armor plate of a combatvehicle showing the two positions in which the ball may be secured;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 44 in Fig. 2;

In an attempt to prevent attacks of such close 55 bracket l3.

fil -552. i 2 Fig. :5 is tan exploded view showing .how the handle issecured-to the;ball; and

'*Fig.'l:6 isa bross-sectionaliview taken .along lines @6 6 of Fig. 3. y

1, The invention esseritiallycomprises a spherical .ball 2 tor carryinganti-personnel grenades -.3 and adapted for mountingflin thearmor-plated of a .cdmbat vehicle. :Q'ppositeIy disposed, holflowed-outrece ses 5 are provided in .ba1l-2 of ll) s'ufiicientdepthi toallow-mounting ofg're'nades thereinlwithoutsucn grenades projectingbeyond the-outer peripherynf ball-2. Such-requirement, of course, shouldleave awall btween recesses-5 equal to or greater than the thickness ofithe .15 .armor plated o'fvthecombatvehicle as shown iniFig. 3, in orderto ihsureadequate protection against i the .rletonatioh of grenade 3.Recesss :51 are ..provided LWi-th'Tl'fioOr surfaces 6 having a .threaded-.stud-:-1:..thereon suitable for mounting a 20 grenade 3. Othersmeansfmay of course be uti- --lized for mounting-the grenadeand still bewith- .in thescopeofthisinvention.

As shown in Fig. 5, ball 2 is provided with a handle 8 having anextension 9 by which such 5 handle is threadably secured within ball 2.Handle 8 provides leverage for revolving ball 2 in the desireddirection. Ball 2 is also provided with oppositely disposed mountingpins H] in axial alignment with one another adapted for rotat- 0 ablemounting within armor plate 4. When ball 2 has been inserted Within asuitable cavity in armor plate 4 with pins Ill fitting withinsemicircular recesses therein, a T-shaped insert II also provided with asemi-circular recess similar 35 to that in armor plate 4, is bolted asat l2 to armor plate ii over pins it thereby assuring free butnon-tilting rotation of ball 2.

Spring brackets I3 are provided for securing handle 8 in either of twopositions as shown in 0 Fig. 3 and are secured to armor plate 4 as bythe threaded studs 1 previously mentioned, preferably immediately priorto going into such action as may possibly warrant their use. When it isbelieved that enemy personnel are within close range of the armoredvehicle or in actual contact 0 therewith, the grenade 3 in the interiorof the vehicle is armed by pulling the pin in the conventional manner.Then handle 8 is released from spring bracket [3 and ball 2 is revolveduntil handle 8 snaps into the other and opposite spring Thus grenade 3is rotated to the a th it s exterior of the vehicle where after theconventional few seconds delay, such grenade detonates. The force of theexplosion is obviously directed outwardly away from the armored vehicleand armor plate 4 thereof prevents any possible injury to the occupants.As grenade 3 is rotated as described, the other recess 5 is at the sametime rotated into the interior of the vehicle whereupon another grenademay be mounted in such recess in a manner previously explained.

It should be also noted that the close fit of ball 2 with thesurrounding sections of the armorplated walls serves to prevent anyenemy from interfering with the rotation of ball 2 by a bayonet bladefor example. Moreover, ball 2 is preferably constructed of materialhaving the same armored characteristics as the armor plate 4 of thecombat vehicle so there will be no weakening in the protecting qualitiesof the armor-plated walls of the vehicle.

Thus there is here provided a simple but positive method of detonatinggrenades on the exterior of an armored vehicle to ward oft close-inattacks by unmounted enemy personnel. The number of places from whichsuch grenades may be fired is only limited by the size and type of thearmored vehicle. 7

An embodiment of the invention having thus been described, it isunderstood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the exactdetails of such embodiment but may include such modifications andchanges as come within the scope .of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a combat vehicle having armored walls, a metalball rotatably mounted in an armored wall of said vehicle, said ballhaving oppositely disposed hollowed-out recesses for receiving agrenade, said recesses having each a stud mounted therein for mountingan explosive grenade, a handle secured to said ball substantially midwaybetween said recesses and disposed within said vehicle for oscillatingsaid ball to alternately expose said recesses to the exterior of thevehicle, and means for securing said ball so that one of said recessesis disposed outside of said vehicle whereby an armed grenade can bemounted on said stud in the interior and discharged on the exterior ofthe vehicle.

2. In combination with a combat vehicle completely protected'by armoredwalls, an armored door member mounted in an aperture in one of saidwalls to normally close said aperture, hinge means providing ,forsubstantially 180 rotation of said door member, mounting meansaccessible from within the vehicle for securing a grenade on one side ofsaid door member and rotatable therewith, and manually operable meansfor ro- REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in thefile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,270,293 Hoexter et al. June 25,1918 1,958,321 Stadtler May 8, 1934 2,051,753 Steckly Aug. 18, 19362,371,324 Trotter Mar. 13, 1945 2,384,430 Beardslee Sept. 11, 1945FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 152,197 Great Britain Oct. 14, 1920

